2013 F1 season

Susie Wolff says her next objective is to get an F1 superlicence after being entrusted with the first run in the Williams FW35.

Wolff was the first person to drive the team’s new car in a straight-line aerodynamic test at Idiada last week.

She will do further aerodynamic tests in the car as she aims to increase her F1 mileage. “A superlicence is the next thing on the to-do list,” she told media in Barcelona.

Wolff said she will not be participating in Friday practice sessions this year. She is looking to race elsewhere after calling time on her DTM career.

“I stopped DTM because for me I had done seven years in DTM and felt there was nothing left more to achieve there,” she said. “I had tried my best, come to the best point I could, and there was no real way of moving forward there.”

“And when I made that decision it wasn’t consciously because I wanted to do more at Williams, I’d made that decision already in May of last year. It just so happened that I then got the opportunity for a Formula One test in October.

“This went well and I then got asked by Mike [Coughlan] to increase my role in the team and because I didn’t have a race programme like DTM which is quite full-on, I was able to dedicate a lot more of my time to working in the team and that’s what happened.

“It’s been a very natural progression. But my new year’s resolution was to stand on a podium again so I’m not done with racing yet. I think I’ll look into doing some GT races or so, just because I enjoy racing so much.”

But she ruled out an appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours: “Unfortunately my husband has forbidden me from ever doing Le Mans, so Le Mans is off the programme!

“But, yes, Spa 24 Hours or some of the big highlight races would be really good and challenging to do.”

“But obviously he has a big job to do at Mercedes. I’m definitely seeing much less of him these days, he must have a lot of work on his plate.

“Of course we’re all competitive people and one hundred percent there’s going to be some instances this year where one is happy on a Sunday night and one is maybe not so happy.

“But there was never any question of my role at Williams coming into doubt, I’m very much a proud member of the team, there was anyway a contract in place and there was never any discussions.”

“We still support each other and maybe just talk a little bit less about Formula One at home,” she added. “I remember when I came back from a day in the factory and he said ‘how was your day?’ And I said… ‘my day was fine’. No need to say any more!”

78 comments on Susie Wolff aiming for F1 superlicence after FW35 test

Male opinions on a woman’s place in motorsport are truly enlightening. But seriously folks, how about checking those knee-jerk reactions at the door, eh? Look, say, hypothetically speaking, if Monisha Kaltenborn’s husband were a middling driver in some series and announced he was striving for a superlicense we’d laugh it off, probably, but it would pretty much end there, right? The discussion would stop at ability and nepotism. Why the need to go off on what you think about one gender’s place in the sport vs another’s? If we claim to only want to think in categories of ability, then how about we stick to that?

Then again, many don’t see the point of men doing these things either, that’s ok, as essentially there is not that much “point” to doing a sport anyway.

But what is the difference between thinking there’s not “much point” in women doing these sports, and them rather not doing football, tennis, sailing, tae-kwon-do etc either? Shouldn’t that be the choice of the person involved. If they want to do a sport, why bar them from doing so (not as a family member that is, but in general).

“If Susie is as quick in a car as she looks good out of a car then she will be a massive asset to any team and on top of that she is very intelligent. I am really looking forward to having her in Formula One.”